


Zero Hour

by bladeCleaner



Category: Zombies Run!
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-27
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-30 15:03:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1020099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bladeCleaner/pseuds/bladeCleaner
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's something a little broken in each and every one of them, but there's a reason why numbers fit together so perfectly. A story about secrets, friends and the bonds we forge when we're not expecting them. Spoilers all the way up to s2m23.</p><p>Prompt from babukoan:<br/><em>Runner 5 has a secret from his/her past that would change everything about her/his life at Abel.  It's the kind of secret he/she would do anything to keep buried in her/his past.  Tell the story of how this secret either was revealed or almost revealed.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Zero Hour

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Babukoan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Babukoan/gifts).



> This is set about half way through season 2. You can see some foreshadowing for the finale, but not much. Sorry this turned out to be such a monster of a story-hope you enjoy!

“Forests,” she hears Three grumble, “why is it always forests?”

“I thought you liked a chase, Mr. Lauchlan.”

“It depends on who’s chasing me,” Three replies smugly.

Sam blearily says through their own private channel, “Would those two stop flirting and just-well, you know-already?”

Five smiles and whispers, “Sam, you sound like Maxine.”

“Yeah, but they’re actually flirting!”

“Mr. Yao, what are you doing muttering to yourself on-duty?”

“Oh, nothing, Janine, just…reciting theeeeeee-uhhhh…pledge of Allegiance.”

“We are in _England_.”

“Did I ever tell you I’m part Yankee? On my mother’s side?”

“I find that hard to believe-” Crackling static and a shift in audio quality. “-well maybe-”

Three doesn’t seem affected when she glances over at him and says, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

A familiar voice comes on. “Runner Five, if you value your life, you will remain silent and keep running straight. I do so enjoy watching decoy runs. Almost as much as you enjoy running them, I’m sure.”

They keep on the trail through the forest, a dozen zoms behind them. She grits her teeth. Van Ark.

“You know, Runner Five, I recently raided a Mullins facility-and what I found was most interesting! Do any of your operators know this? Your Major, perhaps?”

She falls a little behind Simon and hisses, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, but you do, don’t you? Do the words Zero Hour ring any bells?”

She nearly trips and falls. Simon doesn’t seem to notice and continues to keep an even stride.

“Those files were confidential.”

“Oh, but I’ve killed in higher places than you think.”

“What do you want?”

“At the risk of sounding cliché, I want you to join me, Five. Your ruthlessness and my resources? We could accomplish anything.”

“I’d rather-”

“You’d rather what? Run the risk of your precious Abel Township finding out?”

“…Give me some time to consider.”

“Two weeks until my offer expires, Five. Until then, not a word, or I send my people after you.”

The line clicks off. Sam buzzes back in like nothing’s happened. Somehow he’s dragged everybody into a sing-a-long.

“-so call me maybe-”

Three’s softly singing the lyrics under his breath, grinning over at her like she should join. Her face is stone.

\--

“Runner Five?”

“Yes?”

“Is this an April Fools’ Joke?”

Janine holds up her resignation letter by the corner, as if it’s an incriminating piece of evidence.

Her body’s rigid. Military ice. “I have resigned from my position permanently, effective immediately. You may take my name off the roster without notice.”

Janine’s jaw goes slack.

“Runner Five, I cannot allow you to do that. In Abel Township, we-want people to pull their weight, not-”

“I have accommodated for that. The vacancy in the soup kitchen has now been filled.”

“That is not the point, Five-”

“That isn’t my name anymore.”

Janine flounders for a minute, and then realizes she’s never asked Five her real name before. She knows it, but doesn’t know how to pronounce it. In her confusion, Five-the ex-runner walks away.

\--

Sam finds her by the training area. People have been giving her a wide berth since they heard she’d been axed, so she’s easy to spot.

He tries to keep up with her on the track, but she’s still too fast. Winded, he sits on the grass and watches her burn gravel. Eventually, after a few more laps, she plops down next to him with a bottle of water.

“Why did you quit?”

“I’m better to you off-field than I am on-field.”

“As much as I appreciate you spooning out acorn ragoo for me, it’s not the same, Five. You were one of our best.”

“Were.”

She downs the bottle in two gulps, slings a towel on her shoulder and starts walking to the showers. Sam runs after her and whirls her around by the shoulder blade. She shakes off his grip like he’s on fire.

“If you believe that, then why are you still running?”

Her face twitches. She whirls around quickly so that he can’t see her expression.

“Damn it, Five, I need an explanation. You can’t just walk out on all of us-on me-like that.”

“I owe this township a living and no more, Sam,” she says. He’s never heard her so bloody cold. She strides off, and this time, he lets her go.

\--

Sara brings her a copy of Never Let Me Go. It doesn’t make her come out of her room. There are rumors flying about everywhere. It's been one week and every tongue is wagging about the fallen star runner. She doesn’t sit at the runner’s table anymore, just grabs her tray and leaves when she’s not serving. 

She’s flipping through dog-eared pages when there’s a knock on her door.

“Sam, just go.”

The muffled voice says through the door, “S’not Sam, mate.”

Body tense, she slowly puts the book down and opens the door, expecting to see Three, or maybe even Seven.

“ _Owen?_ ”

“Hey. Can I come in?”

“Um. Sure.”

She shuts the door, her face a plastic mold of composition. The room’s threadbare. A mattress, a few books on the floor, a solar-powered torch. There’s no pictures taped to the wall.

“What’re you doing here, Six?”

“Cut to the chase, don’cha? I’m here to figure out exactly why,” he sits cross-legged on her floor, “they took the runner who saved my life out.”

She exhales, soft and slow. Runs her fingers through her hair, thumbs the tattoo on her neck.  
  
“Look, Owen, I appreciate the gesture, but your concern is really unwarranted. I quit. They didn’t get rid of me.”

“Yeah, that’s what people’re sayin’, but-I don’t understand, and sights of you are scarcer than a naïve tourist in Sydney. What’s really up?”

“I’m just catching up on rest breaks.”

He sighs and twiddles his fingers a little. Gets up and paces around the room, slides his fingers against the walls.

“You don’t have any pictures of family.”

She stiffens. “I don’t have one.”

Very carefully, he says, “I did.”

She picks up on the word did, and goes quiet.

“Well, dunno if you heard it before you got to me at the tracks where you saved me, but I was kinda callin’ my brother’s name. His name was Orwell. Parents named him after my mum’s favorite author. He was a year older than me and he was remarkable at everything. Dated all the girls I liked, got better grades, all that stuff. I mean, stuff like that’s just waiting for a sibling rivalry. But we never fought about anything. He was always really great.”

“What happened to him?”

“Well, the thing is. The thing is,” he says, turning around gradually to face her, “even though we never fought I always thought I was just a bad version of him. Like a skewed up experiment that got the right results when my parents had ‘im.” He rubs the knuckles of his hands. He’s got dark auburn hair, curly and deeply red. She’s perched on the edge of her bed, eyes wide and bright.

“So the outbreak’s happening and I’m trying to find him as best as I can. Our town didn’t get the memo so when the news hits us it’s too late and the zombies have nearly overrun our part of the town. They had a surplus at the neighboring settlement. I’m running as fast as I can to his apartment, supplies all ready. His apartment isn’t locked and I’m panicking because what if a shambler broke in and ate his brains?”

She nods unconsciously.

“I burst in. Search the apartment. Look into his room real slow with a weird feeling in my stomach and there he is. Hanging in the middle of the room with the tie my dad bought him for his birthday.”

She presses her hands to her mouth as if trying to swallow down the shock. His eyes look wet now and the sting she feels in her ribs grows.

“At first I think its because-it’s because maybe he saw my parents as zoms? I-I’d sent him a message earlier and he might have tried to call them and gotten a bunch of groans. I see a note on the dresser and it’s his. His suicide note. He’d been suicidal for weeks. For months. He’d felt like he’s had no purpose, no one knew who he really was, struggling with depression. That day was just-the day he’d picked to finally do it. He said he was-sorry, that he loved me and I’d-be so much better off without him. After that I just kept on moving like some kinda-robot.”

“Fuck, I am so, so, so sorry, Owen.”

“No. No, you’re not.”

She jerks like she’s been tazed.

“I saw the scars on your thighs, Five. If you do that to me-if you do that to us-” she sees him struggling with the words. “I’ll probably go nuts, alright?”

She strides over to him and takes his hands. His eyes are glistening and she says, “I will not. I promise. I swear.”

He takes deep, long breaths.

“Good. Because this hiding away stuff? He was doing that too. Right up to his death. It wasn’t as noticeable, but he was doing it.”

“I’m not-depressed. I mean-”

“Five, there’s no shame in-”

“Owen, listen.”

He nods.

“What I’m about to tell you cannot get out of here, you understand?”

He nods. “Do you swear?”

He nods again. It seems like a winning combination.

She exhales and says, after a full minute of her hands trembling in his, “The scars you saw? Those…those were actually old wounds.”

“Look, we’ve all been in battle before, but you’ve got-a lot, Five. Almost as much as Seven.”

“I’m not just any runner, Owen. Look, we used to do-the government employed me, long back. I’m not just any sort of military. What we-what we used to do is highly classified, even now.”

“We??? What the-who’s we?”

She swallows. “Government payroll assassins.”

“Oh, my God.”

“There’s. A file. A file, called Zero Hour. It has access codes to video tapes and audio recordings, documents…and…my brother died. They tortured him to death. We were infiltrating the gangs down in Los Angeles, trying to get the mobster kingpin, and they got him but not me. They kept on sending…files and pictures…”

She shivers. Owen looks down at her scars, wonders how many times she’s beaten herself up over it, and doesn’t ask.

“Van Ark has the file. He hacked my signal and told me if I don’t join him, he’ll use it against me. I won’t join him and I-I’m not going to be any use to you out there, because if I have to hear it again, I’ll-I’m not in a position to be helping anyone.”

There’s silence, and he lets out a low sigh.

“I’m sorry.”

“For?”

“What they did to you.”

She nods slowly.

After a while she says, “Is that why you wanted to go back to Australia so badly?”

He curls up on himself, chin to knees. “His grave is there.”

“You’ll see it again. I’m sure of it.”

“Thanks, mate. But it’ll never be the same, y’know? I wanted to go back, see if there’s anything left of the country we used to play in t’gether, drink Milo in, eat Tim Tams in and…yeah, maybe Jody’s right. Maybe it’s better this way.”

“Ooo, calling her Jody now, are you?”

He snorts and swats her with his sweatband. “Oh, come on, not you too! That daft, romantic doctor’s sweet, but I’d rather kiss a kangaroo.”

“Typical Australian,” she replies, smiling.

\--

Sam’s beginning to feel like every time he comes near her, he’s approaching a war zone.

She’s perched like a bird on top of the playground shack. The fiery orange and reds of a sunrise are beginning to edge the horizon. She’s got her knees pressed to her chin and her arms around her legs like a saving grace. Her arms are bare and goose-bumped. The curve of her spine is convex, instead of concave, and its weird how things from his Engineering degree come back to haunt him. Her back is a curved line, a complete distinction from her excellent running stance, and wow, it is creepy how much he’s been watching her, isn’t it.

He approaches her slowly. He wants to say something, anything, as he comes up behind her.

“I sent out a message on Rofflenet. Told Van Ark to go to hell.” He starts a little.

“I-didn’t know you noticed me-anyway. Um, really? What for?”

“You’re a horrible liar, Sam. I know Owen told you. It’s okay. I knew he would.”

“Well, I’m glad he did. There’s a reason I’m here, actually. I wanted to tell you-we sent out a team just now from New Canton.”

She snaps to attention. “For?”

“We recently got some info on where Van Ark was hiding some of his resources. Including,” he says softly, “Zero Hour.”

“Who told you this?”

“Mullins command,” Sara says behind them, and they both start. “Personally, I’m chuffed the top hats deigned to remember us little people.”

“Chuffed? Are you forty years old?”

“Says the 22 year old who likes hanging around in playgrounds,” Sara shoots back caustically.

“Ouch!”

“Guys, you didn’t have to send a raid after one file-”

“There’s tons of valuable information Mullins wants as well. It’s not just about you, Five.”

She’s quiet for a while. “Is Six on this mission?”

Sara and Sam exchange looks the equivalent of a yes.

“Have you guys found a replacement Runner Five?”

They both shake their heads.

“Connect me up with Nadia, Sam. I’m going out to get what’s mine.”

She shoots up from her spot and starts sprinting towards the stairs. Sara and Sam are quick behind, sneakers rattling the stairs.

“Does this mean you’re coming back for good now, partner?” Sara calls, as Five straps in her running shoes and headset that Sam throws at her from his booth. She’s already running towards the gate, but Sam can pick up on her audio as she replies.

“Count me in.”

“Missed you, Five,” Sam says softly, as he sets up a connection with Nadia. Sara shoots him an angled grin, puts on her headset and follows Five’s already distant figure.

\--

Owen’s trapped in a zombie nest with only a knife in his side. There’s a furnace behind him and a hundred zombies closing in from the basement.

“Okay, Six, go by the service hatch-”

“Handle’s rusted shut!”

“Okay, do you see a fire escape anywhere?”

“A fire escape crawlin’ full of zoms, yeah!”

“Shi-okay, we can salvage this-”

“When you said raid, I didn’t think you meant freakin’ death wish, mate! I don’t want to die by zombie flambé!”

“Actually-wait-hold on, Six, cavalry’s coming.”

There are the lightning roars of a dozen gunshots somewhere in the distance. Zombies fall quickly like a stack of dominoes and he’s left clutching his knife a little pathetically.

When the last one is felled, he sees the faces of Eight and Five. Eight hoists the rifle on her back with the strap on. She grins at him, face splashed with blood. Five lowers her Magnum shotgun, arms and face splattered with brain-juice. Owen doesn’t miss a single beat and tosses her the file. In it is a paper, lined with code. She fetches it out of the air and the retraction of her arm is smooth. She doesn’t stutter in her movements. She takes the paper and tucks it into her shorts.

“You two are a sight for sore eyes,” he says, sheathing his knife.

“We always like a good shoot-out, don’t we, Five?” Sara says, nudging her gently.

“Status report?” Five says, a slight smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

His face is grim. “Canton Runner Ninety-Five’s got a sprained ankle and a gunshot wound, but Jod-Four is assisting him in his return to the base. Nine’s got the rest of the Mullins stash.”

“Four and Ninety-Five need you three to clear the path, Five, Six, Eight. C’mon, Runners,” Nadia says. “I need you to run out in 30 seconds, maximum.”

Owen walks over and holds out his fist. She bumps it and grins.

“Glad to have you back on the team.”

“Glad to be back.”

“This calls for a race.”

Van Ark hacks into their signal and buzzes in at that moment, ranting furiously, “-kill you. Just you wait. I can play this game a lot longer than you can, Five. Eventually your faith in Abel will wane and I will be there, waiting. This is officially _war_.”

There’s a flash in her eyes when she says, “I hope you’re prepared to lose.”

 


End file.
